The Jefferson Memorial, dedicated in Washington, D.C., in 1943, makes six errors in its quotation of the Declaration of Independence! Worse is what it does to Jefferson's words on its third panel, described by the National Park Service as "devoted to his ideas on freedom of the body and to his beliefs in the necessity of educating the masses of the people." This panel juxtaposes fragments from widely scattered writings of Thomas Jefferson to create the impression that he was very nearly an abolitionist. In their original contexts, the same quotations reveal a Jefferson conflicted about slavery - at times its harsh critic, often its apologist. This photo shows your author in front of Jefferson's statue, with one of the panels to the side.

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